Year in Review: Music and TV that made a splash in 2016

As 2017 is quickly approaching, we now take a look back at some of the biggest events in music and television this past year. We lost many musical legends in 2016, but it was also a year that pushed many new artists to the forefront of the industry, and saw the return of several legends as well. Winter is coming, but first up - a look at the big players in music.

The world of music may have lost many musical icons including Prince and David Bowie in 2016, but The Rolling Stones were still going strong.

They rocked a massive crowd reported to be half a million people at a free, outdoor concert in Havana, Cuba on March 25th.

It capped off a week of engagement with the West for the Communist-led country that once censored the veteran British band's music.

"It's a pleasure to be in Cuba for the first time. And it's very nice to be here too," said Mick Jagger, lead singer of The Rolling Stones.

As usual, in February, the annual Grammy awards took place.

This year, Taylor Swift was the big winner, taking home three awards including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for '1989' and Best Music Video for 'Bad Blood'.

Taylor Swift was the big winner, taking home three awards including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for '1989' and Best Music Video for 'Bad Blood'.

"Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars won the Record of the Year after lingering on the radio waves since it was released in November 2014.

Song of the Year was won by British singer songwriter Ed Sheeran for his chart-topping hit single "Thinking Out Loud".

Canadian pop singer Justin Beiber made headlines again - and this time for being more than a bad boy.

He broke eight Guinness World Records. Among them, for the most simultaneous tracks on the Billboard Top 100 from his 2015 album "Purpose". He also became the first act to hold the top three spots in the UK singles charts.

In February, Bieber won the International Male Solo Artist Award at the UK music award show The Brits.

Adele, however, was the big winner, winning British album of the year, the Global Success award, best British Solo Artist, and best British single for 'Hello'.

British singer Sam Smith also had awards glory, taking home an Academy Award for the song 'Writing's on the Wall' - the theme tune from the James Bond film 'Spectre'.

In his Oscar acceptance speech, he suggested that he was the first openly gay man to win an Academy Award.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to show how much I care about my community. In the past in my career people had said in the beginning that I didn't and stuff and I just wanted to make it clear how much truly I care," said Sam Smith.

The Nobel Prize in Literature's recipient was announced as being American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The media-shy Dylan accepted the 8 million dollars in prize money, but didn't attend the ceremony due to "prior committments" -- Okay Dylan.

Beyonce once again surprised the world in more than one way.

She made a political statement during her performance at the half-time of the Super Bowl in February by supporting the Black Lives Matter movement with a rendition of her new song, "Formation".

Later in April, she put out a completely new album and videos called "Lemonade" via a widely anticipated one-hour special on cable network HBO.

The album appeared to shine a light on troubles within her relationship with husband Jay-Z.

And she certainly turned lemons into lemonade by sweeping the board at the MTV Video Music Awards with the videos from "Lemonade" in late August.

Barbadian pop singer Rihanna was also work work workin's it at the MTV VMAs, winning the Best Male Video for her collaboration with Calvin Harris, in 'This is What You Came For' as well as being honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

She also released her new album 'Anti' and the title track 'Work' stayed at the top of the Billboard 100 chart for the entirety of March and April.

Her alleged boyfriend and Canadian rapper Drake also took over the Billboard 100 charts for June and July with the hit single "One Dance".

Lady Gaga may have won Best Female and Best Look at the MTV European Music Awards (EMAs) but in 2016, she was also acknowledged for her acting chops, winning a Golden Globe for her role as the countess in 'American Horror Story: Hotel'.

Justin Timberlake made a triumphant return to the charts with the single "Can't Stop the Feeling!".

The song was released in May, nearly 6 months prior to the release of the animated film 'Trolls', which the song was the title track for.

In television, 'Game of Thrones' dominated the year. After the season finale of their fifth season in 2015, fans were traumatised by the death of leading character Jon Snow, played by Kit Harrington, who was stabbed to death in a scene reminiscent of Julius Caesar.

After being teased with a promotional poster for the sixth season depicting Jon Snow, intrigue surrounding the show hit fever pitch.

However, at the world premiere of the series in Los Angeles, his 'Game of Thrones' co-stars all vehemently denied that the character was returning and that he was, in fact, dead.